As we sat in the back of his limo, the privacy screen up, the air too thick for me to breathe comfortably, all I could do was stare at the man who claimed I was now his.
I forced myself to look away, out the tinted window of the limousine, seeing a grand house come into view. My heart sped up. The car stopped in front of a massive wrought-iron gate, and after a moment the doors swung open and we were ascending this long driveway.
I don't know what I expected, maybe Jackson taking me to his office to deflower me there, showing me that he really did own me. Another chill raced up my spine and I rubbed my arms together. I glanced at Jackson again, and saw he already watched me, his dark eyes locked on mine, this knowing expression on his face.
I was a virgin, and this man, this very attractive, powerful man, who was worldly, and so experienced, would most likely expect me to be the same. What would he do? Did he have any idea that I’d never had sex?
Once the car pulled up to the front doors and the engine was cut, I swear I could feel my heart beating so loudly it filled the back of the vehicle. My throat was so tight, my mouth so dry. I didn't know what to expect, but I had agreed to be Jackson’s. I’d agreed to fulfill my father’s debt, because even if it wasn't my responsibility to handle his affairs, I did love him and he was all that I had left in the world.
If being with Jackson for this week made things right, then so be it.
I just hoped I could keep my emotions in check. As twisted as it all seemed, I could see myself falling for this intimidating, arrogant man very easily.
Chapter 2
Jackson
I’m a bastard. You could practically smell the fear that rolled off of Megan in waves. It didn’t stop me. Fuck, if it did anything it turned me on. I was rock hard just watching the way her pupils dilated and her breathing picked up the moment we pulled into the drive.
The satisfaction that ran through me at finally having Megan could not be described. I’d envisioned this moment from the first time I saw her.
Her father had just approached me with a business deal, asking for my backing. I knew going in there was no way the venture would pan out. Phillip Beaumont was big on dreams and short on results. Everyone in our circle knew that. Beaumont had taken over his brother Clay’s shipping company when Clay died. He had been piloting his own plane, heading toward his private vineyard in Rome when he suffered engine failure. It was a hell of a loss. There were few men I respected, but Clay Beaumont was one of them—his brother, not so much.
Still, he’d approached me at one of the endless charity functions I was obligated to attend. I was bored out of my mind. I just wanted out of there and Phillip Beaumont was keeping me from doing just that. And then it happened. I looked across the room and there she was. She was a vision of innocence in a room full of people who had become hardened by life and jaded by experience.
Long blonde hair, brushed until it was smooth and glittered in the light, framed a pixy-like face with full lips the color of cherries. She was wearing a white gown, simple—almost plain, but it hugged her body like a second skin. It curved around small, upturned breasts, came high up on her neck, but the back dropped down. I could see the line of her spine, that delicate indentation. I instantly dreamt of running my tongue against the skin.
It stopped way too soon.
I wanted it to drop further, revealing the indentation of her ass. Suddenly, I had trouble controlling myself. Me, a man who made billions in a business that demanded complete control of my emotions, wanted to walk over there and rip the dress farther down, pin her against the wall and fuck her right there, in front of everyone. When Beaumont followed my line of sight, that’s when I found out who the woman was. Megan Beaumont.
In that moment, a decision was made. I would give Beaumont the money he wanted. I would invest in his stupid scheme, because ultimately it would get me the one thing I craved—his daughter.
Even then I knew he’d fuck up… knew she’d be mine.
I was a bastard, but I never claimed to be anything else.
Now, three years later, Megan had become mine.
“Now what?” she asked, after she turned to face me.
“My chauffeur will show you inside and the maid will take you to your room. You will wait there for me.”